Hello again readers. Thank you for tuning in after my small break after finishing Volume 1. I do hope for your continued support as I continue to write.

This is XSBR: Volume 2

Fragile Friendships

The winds of spring blew in from the south as white gave in to green. Spring had come, spreading its balmy climate all through Vale. This was also one of the Vale Heliport's busiest times of the year as returning students resumed their studies and new students began their tutelage, the ships coming and going for days at a time as they sought Vale's crown jewel, Beacon Academy.

One such ship landed, opening its doors wide with a hiss of air as its occupants slowly disembarked, many yawning and stretching after sleeping on the considerable trip. Others were pushing against one another to be one of the first out the door, eager for what lay in store. Two students in particular disembarked quickly, a well-built blonde currently rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes while her dark-haired sister pouted, looking disapprovingly to her elder sister and leader.

"Ah…" Yang yawned, stretching, closing her eyes, and putting her hands behind her head as she disembarked with her sister. "That was a hell of a trip, but it's good to be back, don't you think so Rubes?"

"Yeah, especially after I was grounded for like the whole break!" Ruby whined.

Yang opened a single eye and leveled it to her. "C'mon you make it sound like I wasn't in trouble too."

"Were you?" He sister snipped. "I recall an empty room during the day that was somehow full whenever Dad came back."

Yang just shrugged. "I really don't know what you mean."

Ruby crossed her arms. "Uh huh."

"Anyways considering all the damage we, oh how did Ozpin put it, 'participated in'? We got off pretty good I'd say." Yang said changing the subject slightly. "I mean sure, Dad was pissed and the lectures were a drag, but other than that…" She took out a cigarette, lighting it up with an audible *click* of her lighter and taking a drag. "No biggie." She finished, as she puffed out a ring.

"He threatened to pull us from school Yang!" Ruby snapped.

"Aw, he was just to look tough, he was never going to do it." Yang reached over, ruffling up her sister's hair. "Especially not to his little princess Ruby!"

The younger sister slapped away her sister's hand and huffed. "Stop treating me like a little kid!"

"The minute you stop acting like one, you let me know." Yang shot back with a teasing smile.

Ruby shook her head as they continued to walk the airship docks. "So, you think Blake and Weiss are here yet?"

Yang looked like she was about to respond when something up ahead caught her attention and caused her smile to widen. She pointed ahead. "That answer your question?" she asked.

Ruby's eyes followed Yang's finger and she spotted Blake in the distance, leaning up against a light post. The faunus girl's head jerked up from her scroll as she noticed the sisters coming towards her.

Blake let out a small grunt as Ruby embraced her excitedly. Blake gave bemused chuckle before returning it, to a much lighter degree. "Glad to see you haven't changed, Ruby."

Ruby stepped back as Yang caught up at her own calm pace, greeting Blake with a one-armed hug, making sure to keep her still lit cigarette away from Blake's hair.

As the older girls broke their embrace Yang addressed her. "Blake, how was your time at Beacon while we were all away?"

"Quiet, for the most part." Blake replied. "Ren and Nora were good company over the break. Ren and I, as it turns out, are in the same reading circles. And Nora kept things from being too quiet with her… well… you know…"

"Nora-ness?" Ruby offered.

Blake chuckled. "Yes."

"Well, you got lucky." Yang said, slapping a hand down on Ruby's shoulder. "Rubes and I got grounded the moment we set foot in the door after all the stuff that went down in the docks ward."

"Some of us more grounded than others." Ruby grumbled.

Yang chuckled slightly before looking to Blake, her tone growing a bit more solemn. "So, have you heard from Weiss yet?"

Blake and Ruby's tone shifted, sullen for the former and concerned for the latter. "No, though I do recall her saying she'd be back today."

Yang's steady gaze was drawn upward suddenly. "Well, well, right on cue."

Ruby and Blake followed her gaze and the three saw it. An almost pure alabaster airship with the Schnee Dust Company snowflake on its side. Against the sea of grey shades that made up most of the other airship, this one was larger and sleeker, landing on its own pad separate from the others.

Yang took a drag before tossing her butt on the ground and stamping it into the concrete. "Well? Shall we go welcome her back?"

The interior of the Schnee Airship was even brighter white than the outside, from floor to ceiling everything an almost sterilized ivory, especially with the heiress' cabin.

Weiss looked at herself in her cabin's mirror, giving her chalky-white hair one last stroke before putting her ponytail to its side. Her shoulders sagged and she closed her eyes, gripping the sides of basin in front of her. She turned the faucet on, allowing the cool sensation to run over her fingertip for a few seconds before taking it in her hands and splashing her face lightly. She allowed the sensation on her face and hands to soothe her for a few moments before taking a towel and drying her face and hands.

With a deep breath, she stood up straight, regained her posture and composure and left her cabin.

As Weiss departed her family's personal ship, she gazed to the side and saw a few servants unloading her things. The youngest of the bunch, a young man who couldn't be more than a scant few years older than she was, grasped for a case at the top of a pile, but underestimated its weight, losing balance as he came crashing to the floor, the case bouncing off the ground and landing a few feet away.

As the young man quickly scrambled to his feet to get the dropped piece of luggage, he noticed pristine white boots in front of him and paled as his eyes traveled up and met the disapproving glare of Weiss.

"M-m-miss Schnee!" he sputtered, standing to his full height, nearly a foot taller than she, but somehow looking small in her presence. "I'm so sorry, miss! The bag, I didn't realize it was so heavy and I'm so very sorry, please!" He shook like a leaf while two other manservants stood with mouths agape.

Weiss felt a surge of irritation flare up within her breast. But, as she opened her mouth to berate the man, she noticed a long, thin, fur-covered tail protruding from his backside, her irritation evaporating like rain in the sun. She closed her mouth and eyes audibly inhaled and then opened them slowly again. "It's fine. Just… be more careful." She finished quietly, turning around and walking away from an incredibly relieved servant as well as two in complete disbelief.

Weiss' attention was drawn to her teammates now walking towards her. Ruby had a small approving grin on her face, Yang, a bemused one and Blake' expression, good or bad, could not be discerned.

"Hello, Yang, Blake, Ru-" She started before being interrupted as Ruby embraced her in almost a full-body tackle. Weiss held her ground and Ruby regained her footing as she tightened the hug which Weiss, somewhat reluctantly, returned.

"She's quite the hugger." Blake observed, her impassive features cracking into the smallest of grins.

"She is indeed." Weiss said, her words strained as if they themselves were being squeezed by Ruby. When she finally let go, Weiss took a moment and steadied herself, looking to the two other girls. "I hope you weren't planning on the same."

Yang chuckled. "If I tried what she just did I'd snap your spine like a twig."

"I wasn't, no." Blake said politely.

"Good to see you made it past the Schnee security just fine." Weiss said. "Most people aren't allowed to just wander into private helipads uninvited."

"Yes, the security guard said that word had been sent ahead to allows us through." Blake replied. "Your doing?"

"Of course," Weiss said, turning around and motioning for two of her manservants to come over. "Fetch the bag from inside, please. You know the one."

"At once, my lady." The man said, running up the ramp into the ship before appearing a few moments later, a large shopping bag in his hand. "Here they are, my lady."

"Thank you, you may return to your other duties." Weiss said. The man walked off after a curt bow and Weiss set the bag on the ground. "I got you all a little something whist I was back in Atlas."

"For Yang…" She began reaching into the bag and produced two large hair-product bottles. "High-grade Atlasian shampoo and conditioner."

Yang took them, one in each hand, and sniffed them, an approving smile spreading across her features. "Ooh, lavender, nice."

"Blake," She said reaching in again, producing a book. "The Third Crusade, 2nd edition."

The small smile on Blake's face grew into a more genuine one. "You remembered. I thought I might never see another after I lost my last one."

"It was somewhat difficult to acquire a copy, yes. But, not beyond my power to get." Weiss replied.

Ruby by this time was practically jumping. "Ooh! Ooh! What'd you get for me?!"

"Something I'm sure you'll find very useful" Weiss said reaching in for the last gift.

Ruby's thoughts were racing, useful? What could it be? Some kind of high-end weapons part? High caliber ammo for Crescent Rose? What? What? WHAT?!

"A binder!" Weiss said, happily pulling out the gift and presenting it to Ruby.

Ruby's excitement stopped dead in its tracks as she took the gift. "A… binder?"

"Yes, very good quality too, I might add. Multiple pockets for storage, durable, it's sure to be quite useful during the academic year." Weiss said.

Ruby was unsure how to respond. Was it a joke? It was hard to tell, Weiss' manner of speaking made her sound constantly either condescending or sarcastic, sometimes both. But after a few seconds passing and no punchline showing itself, she concluded that the heiress was being serious.

Yang nudged her from behind and Ruby snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh! Right! Thanks! Thank you, Weiss." She said quickly. "I'll be sure to put it to good use."

"You know guys, it's about time for lunch." Blake pointed out. "Maybe we should head back to Beacon. We could get settled in and then head to the cafeteria for some food."

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Oh! Yes, yes, yes! Real food! No more home cooking or airplane food! I'll go get us a ride!" In a flash Ruby was gone, a trail of petals fluttering n the wind as she left the older girls behind.

The three followed behind at a walking pace as their youngest team member waved her hands around like a lunatic trying to get a cab.

As they walked Yang watched Blake and Weiss with a clinical eye. Their remaining time together after the incident at the docks had been but two weeks and the fragility of the two's relationship was plain to see. They walked together, but apart, as if they were merely strangers who happened to be going the same way. Weiss' gesture with the book had been without a doubt a thoughtful and kind one, but Yang knew that the two were on ambivalent terms at best. They were together out of necessity for the team and themselves rather than genuine desire for friendship with one another.

Her eye wandered ahead to Ruby, halfway falling into an open cab window, and the corners of her face turn a bit. Still, she knew that it wouldn't stop her little sister from trying to bring them together as friends, despite everything else. She hoped Ruby wouldn't try and push too hard, but patience and subtlety had never been her sister's forte. After all, she thought, her small smile growing, Ruby practically bled optimism, so if there was even a fraction of a chance of bringing the two together, she knew Ruby would go after it with all she had. Maybe she could even get that chance, Yang mused, Ruby did have the strongest relationships in the team, even Weiss' cold demeanor seemed to thaw thanks to Ruby. Maybe she would get them all to be friends before long.

Personally, Yang just wanted to stop the bickering and fighting between teammates. The four of them had to be a team for the next few years and if they wanted to excel, constant distrust and infighting weren't gonna fly. She balled her hand into a fist. Her first semester as leader had been truly lackluster, she had to step it up this semester, she thought, her fist tightening further. She would not let something like last semester happen again.

She would not fail them again.

As Team RWBY stepped into the cab, another team stood in the airship docks. Except this team was down a member.

Suffice to say, they were distressed.

"Damn it! I can't believe he's doing this again!" Scarlet said. Scarlet was young man with pale skin and red hair that came down over his right eye, and several red markings around his left. His attire spoke of a cross between an old pirate captain crossed with a military private as his simple attire matched a pelisse-like jacket draped over his left side with a pair of long, brown military-grade boots and a simple white sleeveless top.

"Maybe we should get him chipped or something." Sage replied. Sage was teenage boy with dark skin and yellow eyes and swept-back hair that was a sage green. Tattoos of wings on his chest and tattoos of Roman numerals around his neck were stenciled in intricate detail. His attire spoke of asymmetry as he wore no shirt but an opened long white jacket with its sleeve cut off on the right. A golden pauldron sat on his right shoulder where the sleeve cut off and a golden cuff adorned his left wrist. Dark grey pants and a white belt finished the look.

"Guys, guys, relax. We all know how he is, right? He'll turn up, sooner or later." Neptune assured. Neptune was a teenage boy with tan skin, dark-blue eyes and messy light-blue hair in the form of an undercut. His own attire had a combat meets formal occasion feel as he wore a white dress shirt and black tie under a red jacket adorned with a wide, upturned, black collar and a silver reticle across the back. He also sported a pair of gray jeans with black padding strapped to the sides as well as black shoes fastened with straps instead of laces. His most notable accessories however were the black fingerless gloves and a pair of yellow-tinted goggles on his forehead.

"You know, it's because of an attitude like that that he's always pulling crap like this." Scarlet griped.

"I agree." Sage said, nodding. "He's our leader. He's got responsibilities, not just his own but to us. He shouldn't do this."

"Look, we all know he's around here somewhere. Let's just get going and be sure to give him an earful later, agreed?" Neptune asked.

"Agreed." The two said in unison.

The aroma of quality sustenance permeated the air of Beacon's cafeteria as students new and old ran about to and fro. Some new students were already beginning to aquatint themselves with their future classmates while scores of old friends reunited with cheers and toasts of all kinds.

One such group of friends had just finished swapping stories of their respective times apart. PVAR all sat on one side of the long wooden cafeteria table while XSBR, minus Ruby, sat on the other side. Yang and Nora were scarcely paying attention, taking turns throwing foods at one another's mouths.

"How hard was it?" Blake asked Jaune, who'd just finished telling them about one of the many miscellaneous jobs he'd taken over the break to support himself.

"Aw, it was easy. Laying bricks is actually pretty fun once you get the pattern of brick and mortar down." He said cheerfully.

"Yeah, but ten-hour shifts? That's gotta suck." Nora chimed in, catching a grape between her teeth and swallowing it.

Jaune shrugged. "More hours meant more money, and I think it helped build up my muscles a little." He said raising a naked arm as he pulled back the sleeve and flexed. Out of the corner of the eye, Yang couldn't help but notice Pyrrha's wandering eyes and inwardly chuckled as she casually caught a grape herself.

"So, why isn't Ruby with us again?" Weiss pointedly asked Yang.

XSBR's leader snapped from her musings as she turned to the heiress and swallowed. "Oh, she said she had some important stuff to unpack, I'm sure she'll be here-" A loud crash from the far end of the table interrupted Yang and seven pairs of eyes all looked towards the source, Ruby herself with a large binder looking nearly fit to burst. "-any second." Yang finished to the notice of no one.

"What is that?" Weiss asked before her face became scrutinizing and then nearly horrified. "I-Is that the binder I gave you?"

The young member of XSBR patted it as she beamed with satisfaction. "Yep, yep! It was very useful!"

The heiress looked like she didn't know whether to continue to look shocked or move on to anger. She settled for a bit of both. "W-What? You were supposed to use that for your studies! It should have lasted you all semester! How did you fill it so fast?! What did you fill it with?!"

"With the best day ever!" Ruby announced.

A wave of confusion spread across the seven as Ruby opened up the binder now stuffed with crumpled and wrinkled papers that had been hastily flattened in an attempt to mimic some semblance of order.

"Sisters, friends… Weiss…" Ruby began, earning a disgruntled 'hey' from Weiss. "Four score and ever since we got off from last semester, I had a dream. A dream that we eight and CVFY could all come together, as friends and have the most fun anyone's ever had, ever!"

There was silence for a moment and Yang sheepishly turned around to face the rest. "Sorry guys, I probably should have warned you. She came up with a bunch of stuff over the break." Yang felt a loaf of bread hit her apologetic face and glowered at Nora who stuck out her tongue impishly.

"Sorry Ruby," Pyrrha began in her usual polite measure tones. "but, what are you talking about?"

Ruby lowered her raised hands and her tone lowered to a softer, more appropriate volume. "Look guys, between the tournament at the end of the year and students from over-seas coming, this semester is gonna be a blast! But school's tomorrow, let's have some fun today!"

There were murmurs of agreements and Nora stood up. "That sounds like fu-!" She didn't get to finish her sentence as a banana-cream pie collided with Nora's face, slowly sliding off it and onto the table as everyone turned to see the satisfied smirk of Yang and her outstretched hand.

Coco and Velvet strode just outside, the later looking worried while the former projected her usual aura of cool. "Vel, c'mon you're getting worried over nothing."

"How can you be so nonchalant about it?" Velvet asked. "We got two training missions at the end of the semester in heavy-grimm territory."

"Vel, relax, we'll be fine. We've handled grimm before and came out peachy-keen." Coco replied. Seeing that her words were having little effect she sighed. "Look let's just get some lunch alright?" She said as she began to push open the door. "But no coffee, you're jumpy enough as it-" She stopped as ramen noodles collided with her head from the partially open door.

"Coco? You alright?"

Coco closed the door slowly, wiped the noodles off her face and adjusted her glasses to their rightful position. "I don't even want to know." She said before walking off.

As the two girls walked away another figure passed by the windows of the cafeteria, bright amber eyes peering in. They saw as chaos broke out, many students ducking for cover, running for exits or simply joining in the chaos. They quickly zeroed in on Pyrrha, widening as they saw her stop a barrage of soda cans from raining down on her and her friends and redirecting them elsewhere.

Suddenly, all the food being thrown froze dead in in tracks in midair. The noise and shouts of laughter and fright stopped. A loud clearing of the throat was heard, several dozens of heads turned to the front of the cafeteria to an open pair of doors. Ozpin in the door frame while Glynda Goodwitch stood a few steps inside, her riding crop raised.

"Children," she said, calmly but with obvious contained annoyance. "food is for eating, not throwing." With that she began to make several intricate movements with her weapon. Tables, chairs, trashcans, and foodstuffs from the walls floors and ceiling began to float around the room as if magically compelled. The room fell into place as they returned to their rightfully places artfully and thrown food was disposed of in the proper receptacles. When the last chair fell into place she lowered her riding crop. "Am I understood?"

Silence fell over the crowd. But then Nora, gave a snort before giggling overtook her and then outright laughter that echoed off the semi-stained walls. She was soon joined by Yang, the Jaune and Ruby and more until eventually laughter of varying types and volume sounded throughout the hall.

Glynda sighed in exasperation, shaking her head.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around briefly to see a sympathetic smile on the headmaster's face. "Glynda, just let it go."

She sighed again and looked to the laughing, chortling, giggling, mass before her. "They're supposed to be the defenders of their generation."

"They will be." Ozpin assured, taking his hand off and standing next to her, looking almost wistful as he too watched them. "But they're also children. Let them enjoy their childhood." He said, his gaze becoming somber. "It'll be over before they know it."

Torchwick sat across from Lieutenant Ursarus of the White Fang. The two were aboard an airship, having just recently left the scene of their most recent crime and Roman examined one of the many spoils form the heist in his hand, rolling it in his palm.

"I must admit…" Ursarus said slowly, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "I did not expect that to go so… smoothly. Your plan was… surprisingly effective." He said slowly, as if dolling out the backhanded compliment were an effort in itself.

Roman looked up to him and smiled preeningly. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet, friend. So long as children aren't involved, I can really work wonders." He put the dust crystal in his pocket and sat up a little straighter. "And I must admit, the White Fang is a force to be reckoned with. It's nice to have some lackeys that are semi-competent."

The Lieutenant frowned at the 'lackey' remark but refused to acknowledge it. "Perhaps if you motivated your men with more than greed they would be competent."

"That's where you're wrong, friend." Roman shot back, his smile growing wide. "Nothing motivates a man like greed because it comes in so many flavors." He then leaned back against the hull, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. "After all, aren't we all just a little bit selfish?"

Done. The break was nice and once again, as said in Volume 1, most, by which I mean 90%, of these ideas are coming off of Celtic Phoenix Productions, so please go and watch his videos and support him. Other than that, please review and thanks for reading.